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Good morning.
If your office is anything like ours, everyone and their dog has a cold at the moment.
Stay healthy, avoid people who are sneezing, and drink lots of orange juice.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“I greatly appreciate the support of all my family, friends & colleagues who have been looking after me so well & the incredible research that has been performed. I hope the latter will change the field & patient outcomes in the not too distant future.”
Former Australian of the Year Professor Richard Scolyer announcing last night on A Current Affair his brain cancer has returned and the prognosis is “poor”. For more on Richard’s story, you can watch our interview here.
Stat of the day
30%
The percentage of Australians who believe their life has worsened in the past year, according to a survey of 3,514 people conducted by ANU.
Random fact of the day
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the term to describe the fear of long words.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
State and Federal police have confirmed a caravan filled with explosives found in north-west Sydney earlier this year was part of a fake plot “contrived by organised criminals”. The caravan had contained a note suggesting it was targeting a synagogue. However, the AFP’s Deputy National Security Commissioner Krissy Barrett said “the caravan was never going to cause a mass casualty event,” and that a known criminal had been “pulling the strings” to lead police there. “This twisted, self-serving criminality has terrorised Jewish Australians,” Barrett added.
Rental affordability fell to its worst level on record in December, according to PropTrack’s latest Rental Affordability Index. While prices increased at a slower rate in 2024 compared to 2023, PropTrack found rental growth still outpaced wage growth. NSW remains the least-affordable state for renters, followed by South Australia. Rent prices in Victoria have also surged in line with national trends over recent years. However, PropTrack said it was the most affordable state because “rents in Melbourne haven’t grown nearly as quickly as other parts of the country since 2020.”
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
Canada has a new Prime Minister
Former central bank Governor Mark Carney is Canada’s new Prime Minister, replacing the outgoing leader Justin Trudeau.
He won a competitive ballot for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
While Carney is not an elected politician, the party’s rules allow for non-sitting MPs to run for leadership roles.
The leadership ballot came after Trudeau stepped down amid “internal battles” in his party.
Mark Carney
Carney spent 13 years working at the investment bank Goldman Sachs.
He then went on to serve as the Governor of the Bank of Canada between 2008 and 2013, and also the Bank of England between 2013-2020.
The 59-year-old was appointed a special economic adviser to Trudeau last year.
During the leadership race, Carney focused on his economic credentials to handle cost of living issues and global challenges.
Election
Canada needs to hold an election by October. Polling on the governing Liberal Party has consistently shown a downturn in public support.
However, the party has recovered in recent weeks as Canada pushes back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
In his victory speech at the Liberal Party convention, Carney said: “My government will keep the [counter-tarrifs] on until the Americans show us respect.”
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
I’ve got 2 minutes
Israel has cut off its power to Gaza, after Hamas rejected a U.S. proposal to extend the first phase of the ceasefire-hostage deal
Israel has cut off its supply of electricity to the Gaza Strip as negotiations to extend a ceasefire-hostage deal continue.
It comes after the U.S. proposal to extend phase one of the existing ceasefire agreement was rejected by Hamas.
On Monday, Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen announced power would be cut off to Gaza “so that all hostages are returned”.
A Hamas spokesperson described the move as a “blackmail” tactic.
Mediators are currently meeting to advance negotiations between the two parties.
Ceasefire
Following 15 months of war, a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel came into effect on 19 January.
The U.S.-led agreement was intended to have three phases.
The first phase required Hamas to release 33 hostages over a six-week period, including women, children, older adults, and the bodies of hostages who had died in captivity.
In exchange, Israel has released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
Phase one concluded on 1 March.
The U.S. proposed extending phase one, which would have seen all remaining hostages released by mid-April.
Approximately 59 hostages are estimated to still be held in Gaza, many of whom are presumed dead.
Hamas rejected the terms of the agreement.
Israel retaliated by cutting off aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said: “Israel will not allow a ceasefire without a release of our hostages.”
Power
On Monday, Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen posted to social media saying he had “signed an order to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip immediately”.
Before the war, Israel supplied about 50% of Gaza’s electricity. A power plant inside the Strip also relied on fuel bought from Israel.
On Monday, Israel’s state-owned energy corporation confirmed it had cut off supply to a wastewater treatment plant. The UN has suggested the destruction of water treatment plants before the ceasefire contributed to Gaza’s first outbreak of polio in 25 years.
Response
A Hamas spokesperson said the move by Israel was part of a “cheap and unacceptable blackmail tactic.” The spokesperson also described it as a “waste of time”.
Last week, the United Nations Human Rights office said: “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment.
“The use of hunger and starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.”
Talks abroad
Meanwhile, Israel is sending officials to Qatar to “advance” negotiations on the future of the ceasefire. Netanyahu’s office confirmed to media there would be a delegation to discuss expanding the ceasefire deal.
Separately, Hamas delegates held talks with authorities in neighbouring Egypt. A Hamas spokesperson has told media there were “positive indicators” about advancing the second phase of a ceasefire-hostage deal.
Reporting by Harry Sekulich.
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🍊 TDA Sport interviews NFL hopeful Jordan Petaia. Read here.
🍊 The snowboarder on the FBI's top ten most wanted. Details.
🍊 Bendigo Spirit claim their third WNBL title. Who was the MVP?
🗞️ Also in the Sport Newsletter: golf, a random fact, and more…
Give me some good news
Australian researchers have located the world’s oldest known-crater in outback WA.
It’s believed the meteorite impact crater dates back more than 3.5 billion years, making it the oldest known crater by more than a billion years. The discovery in the state’s Pilbara region gives geologists new clues into how the world’s first continents formed. In a statement from Curtin University, Professor Tim Johnson said, “Until now, the absence of any truly ancient craters means they are largely ignored by geologists… This study provides a crucial piece of the puzzle of Earth’s impact history”.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
TDA tidbit
Miuccia the whippet has won the 2025 Crufts Dog Show.
For those not privy to the world of show dog competitions, Crufts is the world’s largest, and might be considered the dog Olympics.
It is the first time that an entrant from Italy has won, beating more than 18,000 dogs from around the world to claim the title of best dog in the world.
Miuccia’s handler, Giovanni Liguori, said of her: "I absolutely adore her… she is the sweetest dog.”
Go Miuccia!
Reporting by Rosa Bowden.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
NSW has become the latest Australian jurisdiction to carry out a pill testing trial at a music festival, with the service debuting at Wollongong’s Yours and Owls festival. On today’s podcast, TDA journalist Achol Arok reports back from the festival about how the service was run on the day, why it came to be, and how attendees felt about it.
TDA asks
